Anti-Abortion Lawmaker Wonders If Women Can Swallow A Tiny Camera To Get A Gyno Exam
Who thought this would ever need to be reiterated, but items women swallow do not end up in their vaginas. Are we all clear about that? Apparently not. One Idaho lawmaker actually asked a doctor testifying against yet another anti-abortion bill if it were possible for women to swallow a tiny camera to get a remote gynecological exam.
Idaho Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) posed the odd question to Dr. Julie Madsen, who was testifying against a bill that would make it illegal for doctors to prescribe abortion-inducing drugs unless they have examined the woman in person. It’s ironically called the “Physician Physical Presence and Women Protection Act.” Don’t you love it when lawmakers who pen abortion-restricting legislation do it under the guise that it’s for the well-being of women?
Proponents of the bill think making medical abortion more difficult for women to access will give them more time to change their mind about the procedure. The Associated Press reports that during the proceeding, the doctor mentioned that some colonoscopy patients “may swallow a small device to give doctors a closer look at parts of their colon.” Rep. Barbieri asked, “Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?”
Wow.
The doctor replied, no, swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina, you moron. Okay, I added that last part. Rep. Barbieri then responded, “Fascinating. That makes sense,” amid laughter in the room. Really glad the lawmakers in the room find restricting a woman’s access to safe a legal abortion hilarious.
The AP reports the “committee approved the bill 13-4 on a party-line vote, where it now goes to the House floor for a full vote. Barbieri, who sits on the board of a crisis pregnancy center in northern Idaho, voted in favor of the legislation.” Men who know nothing about female anatomy should not be making legislation about what women can and cannot do with that anatomy. Well, no one should be making that legislation — but knowing morons like this are denying women access to medical procedures makes it even more infuriating.
